A/N: Well, it seems that it's official. AMC is not going online. PP issued a statement the other day stating that sad fact, if you haven't heard it by now. I've got to say that I'm pretty damn bummed by that news since I grew up with AMC. I could feel it coming though since there hadn't been any word about the show from them in a long time. What to do with this sad news? I've decided to drag this story out for as long as I can and see where I go with it. I do have a couple thoughts. I can tell you that I don't see me going down the same path of the finale since I already did a story about the shooting and how I thought it should have gone.

With that said, the time off for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States has given me some time to finish this chapter. It is Christmas Day for our girls. Again, I thank you for your wonderful reviews, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

/

Bianca checked the time again. It was early, and she wondered, as she held her phone, if it was too early to call Marissa. She jumped slightly when it started to ring, and a huge smile broke across her face when she read the caller id and saw it was her favorite redhead. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas! I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No, I was just sitting here wondering if it was too early to call you. Is AJ still asleep?"

"Yeah, but I'm expecting that to change any minute. What about the girls?"

"Still asleep for now. How did you sleep?"

"Well, I was up late 'helping' Santa and then I kept thinking about you and the fact that you're in love with me. It made it kind of hard to go to sleep. I just can't seem to wipe this smile off my face. What about you?"

"I know what you mean. I've had this smile on my face since last night. I didn't get much sleep either thinking about you all night long. I know it happened, but it's still a little hard to believe. You're actually in love with me."

"Yep, it doesn't matter how many times you question it. Nothing's changed from last night so believe it. I still love you, and I plan on telling you that every day even when we're old and gray and you get tired of hearing it. No going back, remember?"

Bianca smiled even more. "I remember. I still love you too. I don't know that I'm going gray though. I do have a certain image to maintain as Erica Kane's daughter, and she doesn't have any gray hair. She doesn't think it's proper for someone of her stature."

Marissa busted out laughing. "Riiiiight, Erica doesn't have any gray hair. I think that's because she has someone at the ready the minute a hair decides to go rogue and dares to turn gray. That person is never going to talk though out of fear for their lives!"

The brunette snorted. "I hate to admit it, but I think you're right!"

"That was a very proper sounding snort! I can see you as a very sexy, gray haired senior citizen."

Bianca cleared her throat. "Right back at you! Okay, you got me then, old and gray it is! And I'm not ever going to get tired of hearing you telling me that you love me."

"That's good to know, and neither will I."

"Is that on the record, counselor?"

"Hah! Listen to you getting the legal jargon down. Yeah, it's definitely on the record."

"Well, my girlfriend is a kick ass lawyer so I thought I better start learning some of it."

Marissa sighed happily. "I love the way that sounds. So, when am I going to see my girlfriend today?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like this afternoon as long you're going over to Tad's early. Please say you are."

"We're going over early. How am I supposed to handle not seeing you or at least talking to you for that long? Would it be really rude if I called you and we just stayed on the phone with each other the whole time?"

"I wouldn't mind it, but Kendall and Krystal might consider it rude."

"Hmmm. That reminds me. I need to figure out how to dodge the questions I know Krystal will have for me about you."

"About me?"

"Yeah, she guessed how I felt about you, and she helped give me that extra little nudge I needed to tell you."

"Wow. She's really okay with us?"

"Yeah, she's really okay with us. She said she just wants me to be happy."

"I guess I need to come clean then. Kendall guessed how I felt about you and encouraged me to tell you."

"And…"

"And you couldn't have a bigger fan in her, other than me of course."

Marissa smirked. "Of course. I thought you being my biggest fan went without saying."

"Talk about being confident!"

The redhead laughed again. "It's your fault. You make me feel like I can take on the world with one arm tied behind my back."

Bianca loved hearing her laugh. "You make me feel the same way. So, how are we going to dodge their questions?"

"We could use the kids to block them. You know, always have one right by us so they can't really go into much detail with their questions."

"That has possibilities. I might need a plan B though since my sister can be like a dog with a bone when she wants to know something."

Bianca could hear her girlfriend chuckle. "What?"

"You're sister is definitely determined when it comes to you." She paused. "I wonder …"

"What?"

"Something just occurred to me."

"Are you going to share?"

"Let me give it a little more thought, and I'll tell you when I see you later."

"I suppose that will have to do for now. That just gives me one more thing to think about today."

"One more thing? What else will you be thinking about?"

"You. Your eyes, your smile, your lips and how it feels to kiss you and hold you."

Marissa's breath hitched and her heart flipped at the dip in Bianca's voice. "Now, how am I supposed to think about anything else after you say something like that?"

Bianca laughed again. "Sorry, if I'm going to be distracted then I might as well make sure you are too."

The redhead sighed again unable to believe she could be any happier. "I have an idea. Have you opened your present yet?"

"Not yet. What about you?"

"No, what do you think about opening them now while we're kind of 'together'? It's as close as we're going to have to being alone for a few hours."

"I think that's a brilliant idea. I happen to have your's right here in front of me."

"Ditto. You go first then."

Bianca could hear the excitement in Marissa's voice. She carefully removed the wrapping paper and saw where the present was from. "You got me something from Max Young? I love his work. You obviously already know that though."

Marissa could hear Bianca opening the packing container and held her breath.

Bianca inhaled sharply when she saw the painting. She was absolutely blown away. She couldn't recall ever receiving something so thoughtful. "It's, it's incredible! You got him to paint us! How did you manage this?"

"You like it then?"

"No, I love it! How did you do this?"

"I had taken that picture when I staying with you while you were recovering. I got the idea of having it made into a painting after we went to that art fair this summer. I saw how much you liked his work so I asked him if he would be interesting in doing that."

"There's more to the story than that. He doesn't do this type of work."

"Well, he made an exception. I told him who it was for and that you were a fan of his. By the way, he was very flattered by that. I had to do a little more convincing, but I finally wore him down and he agreed."

"You are simply amazing. I don't know that I've ever had someone give me something so thoughtful. Thank you." She took a deep breath. "Okay, your turn."

Marissa smiled and unwrapped her present. "It's beautiful. Oh, it's a music box. Give me a second to turn it on."

Bianca could hear the now familiar strains of 'Forevermore'.

Marissa was speechless. It was her song, the one her dad used to sing to her. She had never received a more thoughtful, incredible, amazing gift in her entire life. Tears sprung to her eyes as her heart swelled with love for Bianca. How did I get so lucky to have someone as amazing as her in my life? I can't believe she did this for me. I can't believe she loves me this much.

"Marissa?"

The redhead suddenly inhaled. She hadn't realized she had stopped breathing. This incredible woman literally took her breath away. "Oh my God, Bianca! It's my song! I can't believe you gave me my song. I can't believe you did this for me. I, I. No one has ever given me something as beautiful, as incredible, something that means so much to me as this. It's amazing. You're amazing."

Bianca finally took a breath. "So, you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! I absolutely love it. I love it almost as much as I love you, and I do love you, Bianca. My God, I didn't think it was possible to love you any more than I already did, but I was wrong. I just keep falling more and more in love with you."

Bianca wiped away the tears brought on as a result of her girlfriend's declaration. Her voice broke with emotion. "I know what you mean. I love you so much that I think my heart's going to burst, and I just keep falling more and more in love with you."

It was several minutes before either could find their voice again.

Marissa started to laugh. "Wow. If I thought it was going to be tough waiting to see you before, it's going to be absolute torture now!"

Bianca joined in the laughter. "I think you're right, and that's a bit of an understatement. I want to see you now, but"

"But the kids will be up soon and tearing through their presents, and we have to let them have that time."

"Yeah, and then there's Kendall and Krystal. They'll be expecting each of us soon."

"True. How about 2:00? We meet here at my house at 2:00."

"I can do that. 2:00 and not one minute later."

"Deal! Wait. I think I hear AJ finally waking up."

"Do you think they managed to time that somehow because I just heard Miranda, and now there's Gabby."

"Looks like we're both back on the clock. I really don't want to, but I need to go. I will be calling you later."

"Good, because if you don't, I'll be calling you! You know what, the heck with it, I'll call you anyway."

Marissa chuckled. "I guess we both better charge our phones. I love you"

The brunette smiled. "I love you too."

/

Bianca smiled as she watched her daughters playing with their Christmas presents when her phone rang. "Hey, Kendall. Merry Christmas. I was going to start getting the girls ready in a few minutes. Did you come up with something else you need us to bring over?"

"Merry Christmas, Binx. About that, Ian woke up with a fever."

"I'm sorry to hear that he's feeling bad, especially today. How's Spike feeling?"

"So far, so good. I'm hoping Ian will be feeling better soon, but I think it's probably better if you and the girls stay home. I don't want to risk anyone else getting sick."

"I understand. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, we're good. It'll just be a low-key holiday for us this year. I just feel bad leaving you and the girls on your own today."

"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. Just take care of Ian, okay?"

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

After hanging up with her sister, Bianca thought for a minute. While she hated her nephew being sick, this actually worked out for her. Marissa had called not long before Kendall with news that she and AJ were staying home. Tad woke up with a cold, and Jenny wanted to take care of her dad so her sister and Krystal would be staying home. This unexpected change in plans for both Marissa and herself gave her a wonderful idea. She smiled as she decided to surprise her girlfriend. "Okay, girls, we need to start getting ready."

Miranda looked up. "Are we going to Aunt Kendall's soon?"

"There's been a change in plans. Ian's not feeling well so we won't be going over there today. We're going to go over to Marissa's early and surprise her and AJ."

Both girls smiled brightly and raced to back to their rooms. Bianca followed as a broad grin spread across her as she thought about surprising her girlfriend.

/

Marissa smiled as she picked up her phone and saw it was Bianca. "Hey!"

"Hey, yourself."

"I'm guessing you're headed to Kendall's."

"We're on the road. I just thought I'd call and see what you were up to."

"AJ's playing, and I'm just cleaning up some and wishing you were here."

"Well, I'll be there before you know it."

"I know. Hold on a sec. Someone's at the door." Marissa opened the front door to see Bianca smiling and her daughters laughing and shouting "Surprise!"

Marissa laughed in disbelief as the little girls entered the house. "What are you all doing here now? You weren't supposed to here for a few more hours."

Bianca smirked. "We could leave and come back later."

"Not on your life!" Marissa pulled the brunette inside and gave her a loving kiss. "I'm really not complaining, but I thought you were going to Kendall's."

"There was a change in plans. Ian isn't feeling good. So rather than risk it being spread, Kendall begged off us coming over."

"I hope the little guy will be okay. Her loss is definitely my gain though."

Coats were deposited in the closet, and the children went upstairs to AJ's room to play."

As soon as they were safely out of sight, Marissa pulled Bianca into searing kiss that sent shivers through both women. Arms wound tightly around each other, striving to pull the other closer. Minutes later, they slowly pulled away, each left dazed and breathless.

More time passed before Bianca was finally able to speak. "Wow! What, what was that for?"

The redhead gazed at her and gave her a dazzling smile. "That was me thanking you properly for my Christmas present!"

Bianca sighed blissfully before leaning in to claim those smiling lips with a lingering kiss. "You're welcome and thank you for my Christmas present. I only wish I had gotten that present for you earlier if I knew that was going to be your response to it."

Marissa pulled the brunette into the family room and onto the sofa. She became thoughtful at Bianca's last comment as she absent-mindedly caressed her girlfriend's hands.

"What's wrong?"

The redhead sighed. "Nothing. I was just thinking of all of the time we wasted denying our feelings. We could've had this months ago."

"You're right, but we have it now. Better late than never."

"True, and now that we do have it, I'm going to be upfront with you. I don't plan on ever letting you go."

"That's very good to hear because I don't plan on letting you go either. We're together now, and that's all that matters. No regrets about what's in the past."

"And no going back." Marissa placed a reverent kiss on her girlfriend's lips and rested her head on the brunette's shoulder. Both women sat in silence for a long time, simply basking in the love they shared.

A question crossed Bianca's mind, and she playfully asked Marissa. "So, when did realize that you were desperately in love with me and couldn't live without me?"

The redhead started laughing. "Wow, talk about someone being full of themselves."

"Eh, I'm only speaking the truth, aren't I?" The brunette smirked.

Marissa tried to keep a straight face but was unable to after seeing the amused look in Bianca's eyes before giving in. "You're right. I am desperately and hopelessly in love with you, but no more than you are with me."

Bianca leaned in and gave Marissa a loving kiss. "You got me. I feel exactly the same way. You didn't answer my question though. When did you realize you were in love with me?"

"You really want to know, huh? Okay, it was a few weeks ago. You remember that meeting you were handling for Kendall, the one with that woman 'Sienna'?" Marissa still couldn't stop herself from making a face at saying the other woman's name.

Bianca became amused at the expression on the redhead's face. "I remember."

"It really bothered me when I knew you were going to be going out with someone else. I know now that it wasn't a date, but you couldn't have told me otherwise then. I couldn't think of anything else that whole day, and when I saw you two together, I just couldn't stop watching you to see if you were interested in her. Then, I saw her touch you, and I almost completely lost it. It took every ounce of strength I had not to come over to your table and rip her arm off. I'm going to admit this wasn't my finest moment, but it got me to thinking about why I was feeling that way. That's when I was finally able to admit to myself that I was in love with you and didn't want anyone else being with you." The redhead blushed at her admission and gave Bianca a sheepish grin.

The brunette was completely charmed by her girlfriend's confession. "I don't know that I've ever had anyone be that jealous over me before. You really felt that way?"

"I find that hard to believe. You're absolutely beautiful in every way. You're just you. So yeah, I really felt that way. I was so distracted by what was going on over at your table that I wasn't really paying attention to Mark. I probably should apologize to him."

"It was 'Mike', and no, you shouldn't!"

Marissa was both slightly taken aback by Bianca's forceful reaction to her suggestion and amused by the look on her face. "Really, it's Mike? Huh, I just can't seem to get that straight. Oh well, whatever. It didn't matter then and doesn't matter now. It was just a thought. I won't do it if you feel that strongly about it." A knowing smile crossed her face. "When did you realize how you felt about me?"

Bianca sighed and knew it was time for her own embarrassing confession. "I remember that day because it was the same day that Krystal set you up on what I thought at the time was a blind date with him. I know it really wasn't that, but I couldn't stop myself from thinking it was at the time. I ran into a chair, a table and a server because I couldn't stop myself from trying to see how things were going between the two of you. I was barely able to pay attention to my meeting because I was too interested in what was happening with you. I was doing kind of okay until I saw him touching your back when he walked you to the door. Talk about wanting to rip someone's arm off. I'm not very proud of myself for that, but it's how I felt. Things started to fall in place for me then. That's when I knew I that was in love with you, and couldn't bear the thought of you being with anyone else. I'm not normally someone who gets jealous like that, but with you, it's different. Everything's different."

Marissa was stunned that Bianca had felt that way about her and couldn't keep the smile off her face. "I had no idea you were jealous. Is it bad that I'm finding you absolutely adorable right now?"

"Adorable?"

"A little bit, yeah." The redhead leaned in and stole a quick kiss.

Bianca simply shook her head. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Take something I'm embarrassed of and make me feel kind of good about it."

"It's because you're embarrassed about it. Look, you weren't happy with what you thought was going on, but you were willing to bite your tongue as long as you thought I was happy. There are others, who shall remain nameless today, that would lie, cheat and steal to get what they want to make themselves happy without giving what I want a second thought. They always put themselves and their happiness first. You put others first. You put me first. I'm definitely not used to that. I'm usually an afterthought. It's something I've gotten used to with a lot of things in my life."

The brunette saw the painful memories of being abandoned by her mother in favor of another child, of being cheated on by a husband in favor of another woman, flash in Marissa's eyes and she realized she had been hurt just as deeply as she herself had, and she desperately wanted to take that pain away. She gently cupped the redhead's face. "Those others that hurt you were idiots. They didn't know and appreciate what they had. I do. I have you, and I'm never letting you go." Bianca pulled her close and kissed her with both a force and gentleness that conveyed all the love she felt.

Marissa released a contented sigh when they finally pulled apart. She had never felt so loved and wanted by someone who meant so much to her. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. You know there's someone else who thinks you're amazing. Kendall. Okay, she doesn't think you're amazing in quite the same way as I do."

Marissa chuckled. "Well, that's good and a big relief."

"You know what I mean." Bianca rolled her eyes and chucked. "She's impressed by you, and she doesn't impress easily."

"No, she doesn't which reminds me of what we were talking about earlier. I have a feeling, and it's just a feeling with no concrete evidence at all, but I have a feeling we were set up."

"Set up? When? How?"

"That day at Krystal's. They both happened to need us to meet other people for them at the same place and at basically the same time? I'm sorry, but I just don't see that as a coincidence especially when you factor in the extra encouragement they gave us yesterday to come clean with each other."

"Hmmm. Now that you mention it, it is suspicious. I can see Kendall's hands all over a plan like that. Part of me wants to thank them, but part of me kind of wants to stick it to them for meddling."

"I know what you mean. What do you think we should do?"

Before Bianca could answer, three pairs of small feet raced down the stairs. AJ looked at his mother. "When's lunch? We're starving!"

Marissa laughed. "Well, we can't have that! Do you want to eat in the dining room or have a Christmas picnic in here?" She already knew the answer.

Three small voices chimed in unison. "Christmas picnic!"

"A picnic it is. The three of you are in charge getting the blanket and getting things ready in here. Bianca and I will go see what we can round up in the way of lunch."

The house was bustling again with activity, and soon all five were enjoying lunch. The children were chattering away happily about what they had gotten from Santa when Miranda brought everyone's attention to two small packages still under the tree. Marissa and Bianca eyed the children as they failed miserably to act innocent about the discovery.

"Gabby, would you hand me those presents so I can see who they're for?"

"K, Rissa." The little girl happily retrieved the packages and handed them to the redhead.

"Thank you! Hmmm. This one's for Bianca, and this one is for me." She handed a present to her smiling girlfriend. They opened their gifts at the same time and revealed a picture of the two of them in a frame constructed of popsicle sticks. The women were looking at each other smiling. Looking at the photo, they could now easily see the love in each other's eyes. Each wondered how they couldn't see it back then when it was so obvious now. Eyes glistened as they looked at their children who had been watching them in eager anticipation.

Bianca was finally able to speak. "This is one of the best gifts ever. Is this what you all were working on last night?"

Three heads bobbed in unison. Miranda was the spokesperson for their group. "Yeah, Aunt Kendall helped me with printing the pictures yesterday, and AJ made the frames."

Marissa smiled at her son. "You did an awesome job on them, and I love this picture. You did a wonderful job, Miranda, with picking it out. I'm guessing that Gabby was in charge of wrapping." The smallest Montgomery nodded excitedly. "You did a great job too."

The three children beamed with pride as they rushed forward to be smothered in hugs and kisses from their mothers.

The redhead continued to look at the picture thinking of when it was taken and smiled suddenly at the memory. "This is from that day at the zoo."

Bianca instantly remembered the moment they had shared on the bench and looked at Marissa. They had both felt a pull towards the other that day but had been interrupted and chose to push the feelings aside. That was then. It wasn't the same case today. Bianca gave Marissa a loving kiss. "We have amazing children."

"We really do."

Lunch was soon finished, and Marissa cleaned up in the kitchen while Bianca set the kids up with a movie. After her task was completed, the brunette entered the kitchen to help with the cleanup. Her girlfriend's back was to her, and she couldn't resist wrapping her arms around the redhead's waist and placing kisses along her neck.

Marissa moaned softly and leaned back into her girlfriend. "If you keep that up, I'm not going to be able to finish cleaning up in here."

Bianca laughed. "Sorry. I just couldn't help myself. I seem to have this problem keeping my hands to myself when I'm around you now."

"It's not just your hands you have that problem with."

"Are you complaining?"

Marissa turned around and saw the amused look in Bianca's eyes as she wrapped her arms around the brunette. "No, no, I'm not complaining at all, just stating a simple fact. I find myself having the same problem." She pulled her girlfriend closer and captured those smiling lips with a fervent kiss.

The insistent ringing of Bianca's cell phone forced them to pull apart. The brunette sighed. "It's my sister. I better take this." She stepped away from Marissa and cleared her throat before answering. "Hi, Kendall. How's Ian?"

"He's doing much better. The extra sleep did wonders for him. I'm sorry to bail on you today. I hope you and the girls weren't too disappointed."

It took everything Bianca had to not laugh at her sister's statement because she was anything but disappointed with how the day was turning out for her. "Don't worry about us. We're managing to have a good day."

"I'm glad. Hey, I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier how things went yesterday with Marissa."

"Marissa?"

"Yeah, Binx. How did things go? Did you tell her how you feel?"

"Oh, you want to know how things went when she came over yesterday."

Marissa leaned back against the counter, crossed her arms and smirked. They had agreed to keep the change in their relationship to themselves for at least another day, and she had to admit she was completely charmed watching Bianca struggle to come up with a response to her sister's question.

Bianca saw the smirk on her girlfriend's face and waved her out of the room. There was no way she was going to be able to keep her word about keeping the fact that things had definitely changed for the better between her and Marissa as long as the redhead was watching her and looking at her like she was at that minute. The redhead obliged and headed to the family room, chuckling quietly as she did. Bianca then did the only thing she could think of at that moment. "Hold on a second, Kendall. Miranda needs something." She pulled the phone away and covered it with her hand. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I better go. The girls need me to help them with something. Can I give you a call tomorrow, and we can talk?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line as Kendall considered her sister's response. Something seemed off, but she couldn't exactly figure out what it was. "Um, I suppose that's okay."

"Great, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." Bianca ended the call and exhaled slowly. She made her way into the family room, and Marissa glanced up when she saw her enter. The brunette sat next to her on the sofa and sighed as questioning hazel eyes searched her face. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

A smile crossed her face. "Yeah, you were no help at all though."

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself. You looked so"

"Don't say adorable."

"Alright, I won't, but you did."

The brunette shook her head and chucked. "You're impossible, you know that?"

Marissa smiled as she gave her girlfriend a chaste kiss. "Only when it comes you. Seriously, Bianca, call Kendall back and tell her about us. I know you want to and that you don't like keeping things from her. I'm okay with it. I really am."

"Amazing. You are simply amazing. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. Yes, I do want to tell Kendall, but I'll do it tomorrow. If I call her back and tell her, I'll never get off the phone with her, and it's better if I tell her in person anyway. Besides, I'd rather be spending that time with you. We decided that today would just be about us, and we're going to keep it that way."

"Okay, as long as you're sure that's what you want to do. I won't complain about getting to spend as much time as possible with you." Marissa settled herself back in Bianca's arms and sighed blissfully. In this exact moment in time, she had everything she had ever dreamed of. She had a home of her own, a remarkable son, two young girls that she couldn't love any more than she did AJ, and to top it all off, she had Bianca and her love. It was almost too much and scared her a little, but as she felt her girlfriend's arms around her, a feeling of calm came over her. She knew that no matter what the real world may hold for them, they would somehow deal with it, together.

Bianca smiled as she held Marissa. When she heard her sigh, she knew exactly what her girlfriend was thinking. "You're right, you know. I don't know that it gets any better than this. I've got everything that I've ever wanted right here, and I'm not letting it go."

The five of them spent the rest of the day together. Games were played and movies were watched. Dinner was another picnic. Hours passed and no one bothered to check the time until the children started to yawn and were quickly fighting a losing battle against sleep. Marissa sent AJ up to his room to get ready for bed while Bianca went to warm up her car. The redhead bundled up the girls as she waited for Bianca to return.

Marissa was putting on her coat when the brunette came back inside. "Which one do you want me to take to the car?"

"You take Gabby, and I'll take Miranda. First, there's something I need to do." Bianca smiled as she pulled Marissa towards her for a lingering kiss. "I was wondering if you were planning on going to the benefit alone or with anyone."

Marissa smiled brightly. "I hadn't thought about it too much."

A shy smile crossed Bianca's face. "Would you like to go with me?"

"I would love nothing better than to go with you."

The brunette beamed at her response. "Great! It's a date!"

"Yep, it's a date!"

"Okay, I have to get the girls home if I have any hope of getting in and out of the office early tomorrow."

They scooped up the girls and carried them to the waiting car. Marissa carefully placed Gabby in her booster seat while Bianca settled Miranda next to her sister and fastened her seat belt. The redhead walked around to the driver's side. Both women were still smiling as Marissa bestowed her girlfriend with another loving kiss.

"Drive safe, and I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too, and you know you don't have to come in to help tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I really do because you need the help since you gave the office staff the day off, and I can only so long without seeing you. It's a little pathetic, huh?"

"It's not pathetic at all. If it is, then I'm right there with you. Good night, Marissa."

"Good night, Bianca."